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31.12.18

What is a blog and why bother?

Why MyLifeandTimes.Org is here

I may have covered this before, but I thought that this graphic *almost* covered the reasoning behind why I put stuff here. That reason is: I wanted to have a 'platform' to stand on and "say" stuff whether or not anybody read it. It's a very similar disorder, I think, as I saw displayed by people on my first visit to Times Square way back in the day. Those people were just standing around on their boxes (their platforms) and ranting about whatever - the end of the world and stuff. I'm not sure if the boxes on which they stood were 'soap boxes,' but I think you get my point.

When I found out about 'blogs,' I thought "Great! Now I don't have to worry about losing my freakin' notebook (didn't call it a journal or commonplace book back then) *and* I can type faster than I can write - I can back up, delete and change stuff faster. Little did I know that, for some odd reason, I'd flip my preference back to analog over digital (which is why I hadn't been blogging for so long).

And now I sort of combine the two. Sometimes something that I post here or see online (on Facebook for example) gives me an idea that I want to write about and put into a journal - and sometimes it's the other way around. But what gave me the idea for *this* post was something that the 'Star Wars Blog' graphic did *not* mention.

After performing my due diligence prior to choosing "Innovative Journaling" as my source for my journaling kit (now called my "Davinci kit"), I'd also researched different types of journals what people do with them (Bullet Journals or 'Bujos,' for example are beyond me -- a system of setting up one's notes and schedules and stuff for those who don't know how to do that, I guess?), I also wondered what the difference was between journals and diaries. Then I discovered 'commonplace journals' which have been around for literally centuries and are quite different from both journals and diaries. (Check the links in the previous sentences if you'd like to poke around at those differences)

After educating myself about journals and diaries (and blogs) I happened upon one of those 'suggested searches' that Google gives you when you're looking for other stuff. That suggested search was "What's the difference between a journal and a blog?"

I clicked the link and found what you might expect: the analog journal is more private, the blog is online and public, blah blah blah. But what I've noticed is this: blogs, unlike their original purposes, have become blatant efforts to make money. I even tried it. "Google Adsense" (or whatever it's called) sent me an e-mail to tell me how easy it was to put ads up on my blog tailored to both what my topics were about and also based on the 'clicks' of the visitors. I figured: "Why not?"

Back to my research on analog journals vs. blogs, I continued to poke around at other blogs and, with few exceptions, they're all an attempt to sell something. I'm not sure why, but I was disappointed.

As this is the last entry for 2018, I guess it is only appropriate to close by expressing my wish that you have a happy new year or that you are already having a good one -- no matter which year you're in!